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29/10/2014

Synonymous with
British patriotism, Shakespeare’s Henry V
is a play full of contradictions and ambiguities, powerful rhetoric and hollow
promises, and is the concluding statement in an epic double-tetralogy of
‘History’ plays. Written in 1599, it came at a time when English theatres were
rife with war dramas celebrating England’s success on the
battlefield and ocean. On one hand, Henry
V plays to the audience hungry for another war play – a “tribute to English
courage, underdog spirit and a blessing of its current exploit in Ireland” –
while simultaneously undermining these nationalistic associations, with “acts
of cruelty we struggle to forgive… and an epilogue that makes the whole jolly
rumble seem pointless in the first place.” Damien
Ryan’s production of Henry V
for Bell Shakespeare, on its
last leg of a six-month national tour, plays with these ideas and more and
gives us a harrowing piece of theatre about war, sacrifice and leadership which
stands head, shoulders and torso above the rest.

28/10/2014

Growing out of the
age-old ‘Sydney-or-Melbourne’ debate, David Williamson’s Emerald
City is a timely look at the struggle any artist faces – maintaining
artistic integrity, or chasing money and fortune – and sets it against the
backdrop of Sydney in the 1980s, with all the
big brash audacity that makes Sydney
what it is today. Produced here by Griffin
Theatre Company almost thirty years after it was written, Williamson’s play
is a helter-skelter tennis match between acclaimed screenwriter Colin and his
wife Kate, between Colin and seemingly well-connected hack-writer Mike, between
Mike and his girlfriend Kate, between Colin and his agent Elaine, between… You
can almost see each serve, each rally, each shot, every palpable hit (and
miss), every point won and lost; it’s a giddy sparring match between equals,
and it’s hard not to get caught up in the whole argument – even if it is, by
turn, scintillating, bitter, snarky and futile.

23/10/2014

Les Misérables, as a phenomenon,
needs no introduction. Victor Hugo’s novel
was first published in 1862, and was hugely successful – critically and
popularly – changing the reading public. In the guise of Boublil and Schönberg’s
musical it, too, became a popular and critical success following its
English-language premiere in London
in 1985, and similarly changed the musical-theatre landscape. One of the
longest running musicals in history, it first came to Australia in 1987 at
Sydney’s Theatre Royal, before touring the country over the following five
years. Reconceived and restaged in London in 2010 to celebrate its twenty-fifth
anniversary, ‘Les Mis’ has been given
a new lease of life and is again touring the world, and is now playing in
Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre prior to its Perth and Sydney seasons in
2015.

“[It] is still playing to full
houses and regularly breaking box office records after almost [thirty] years,”
producer and impresario Cameron Mackintosh writes in the program. “New
audiences are discovering the extraordinary impact of this exhilarating and
emotional tour de force while existing Les
Mis fans come back again and again for more.” As an international brand, it
is impregnable, untouchable. As a piece of musical theatre however, it is not
without its flaws. And therein lies the problem with this production, the
experience, and the whole Misérables thing.

20/10/2014

In 2006, Once - a little unassuming Irish film, directed and written by John Carney and starring musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová - won over everyone’s hearts and quickly established a name for itself as one of “the most delicate invisible love stories,” to quote Irish playwright Enda Walsh. As a film-musical, it seemed to go against the stereotype of big numbers, big names and big emotions, and for aficionados of the musical genre, it was perhaps only a matter of time before it was in turn translated into a stage musical.

Developed by the American Repertory Theatre, and originally produced Off-Broadway in 2011, it soon found itself on Broadway. Produced by the Melbourne Theatre Company and John Frost in its Australian premiere at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre, Once is a beautiful tender love story, and the perfect antidote to the big-budget musical juggernauts which dominate Broadway and the commercial musical scene.

18/10/2014

Melbourne theatre-duo Sisters Grimm are a
force to be reckoned with. Having built a name for themselves with their
rambunctious theatrical genre mash-ups (last seen in Sydney with Summertime
in the Garden of Eden), they return to the Sydney Theatre Company and Malthouse stages for their second
mainstage production, Calpurnia
Descending. While remaining true to Sisters Grimm’s ethos of gay DIY
drag-theatre productions gloriously played to the hilt but never to excess, Calpurnia plays with all the resources, support and panache of one
(rather, two) of Australia’s leading theater companies and the result is every
bit as astounding and audacious as it is entertaining and vicious.

05/10/2014

Billed in the
season book as a “kind of Don Quixote for the female comic,” Zoë Coombs Marr’s Is This Thing On?
is the story of one woman’s journey as a stand-up comedian. As we follow her
career from her awkward first gig to her mid-career crisis and her eventual
comeback some years later, not only do we see a character and person grow, but
we also see Coombs
Marr’s skills as a writer become apparent, because Is This Thing On? is essentially five overlapping and intersecting
comedy routines, performed by five different actors, in five different moments
in time.

The Chinese legend
of the Monkey King – purportedly
born from an egg on top of a mountain – is the stuff of legend. So, too, are the
16th century novel based on the story, Journey to
the West, and the popular television show from the 1970s, Monkey Magic. The
story of the chaste monk Tripitaka and his quest to gain enlightenment, and
bring the teachings of Buddhism from India
to China,
like all great road-trip stories, it is not so much the destination but rather
the journey which is important. Here, as Tripitaka is accompanied by her three
trusty disciple-cum-chaperones – Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy – it recalls the grand
quest stories that form the cornerstones of the literary canon – Don Quixote, The Canterbury Tales,
The Odyssey, and Orpheus in
the Underworld.

Produced by Kim
Carpenter’s Theatre of Image, Monkey…
Journey to the West is a grand musical adventure, featuring richly
textured costumes, a simple and inventive set, and a healthy dose of theatrical
flair. Incorporating large- and small-scale puppets and physical theatre with a
hint of pantomime, it is a show in the tradition of commedia dell’arte, heavily
influenced by clowning and buffoonery and play-fullness;
with a heart of gold, and a seamless blend of mythology, adventure, action and
wit, there are echoes here with the work of other theatrical dreamers such as Julie
Taymor.